Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
40 I relied completely[b] on the Lord,
and he turned toward me
and heard my cry for help.
2 He lifted me out of the watery pit,[c]
out of the slimy mud.[d]
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing.[e]
3 He gave me reason to sing a new song,[f]
praising our God.[g]
May many see what God has done,
so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord.[h]
4 How blessed[i] is the one[j] who trusts in the Lord[k]
and does not seek help from[l] the proud or from liars.[m]
5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us.[n]
No one can thwart you.[o]
I want to declare your deeds and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount.[p]
6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern.[q]
You make that quite clear to me.[r]
You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.
7 Then I say,
“Look, I come!
What is written in the scroll pertains to me.[s]
8 I want to do what pleases you,[t] my God.
Your law dominates my thoughts.”[u]
9 I have told the great assembly[v] about your justice.[w]
Look, I spare no words.[x]
O Lord, you know this is true.
10 I have not failed to tell about your justice;[y]
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance.
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.[z]
11 O Lord, you do not withhold[aa] your compassion from me.
May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me![ab]
12 For innumerable dangers[ac] surround me.
My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see;
they outnumber the hairs of my head
so my strength fails me.[ad]
13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me![ae]
14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed.[af]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[ag]
15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be humiliated[ah] and disgraced.[ai]
16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience[aj] your deliverance say continually,[ak]
“May the Lord be praised!”[al]
17 I am oppressed and needy.[am]
May the Lord pay attention to me.[an]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 54[a]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.”[c]
54 O God, deliver me by your name.[d]
Vindicate me[e] by your power.
2 O God, listen to my prayer.
Pay attention to what I say.[f]
3 For foreigners[g] attack me;[h]
ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life.[i] (Selah)
4 Look, God is my deliverer.[j]
The Lord is among those who support me.[k]
5 May those who wait to ambush me[l] be repaid for their evil.[m]
As a demonstration of your faithfulness,[n] destroy them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice[o] to you.
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 Surely[p] he rescues me from all trouble,[q]
and I triumph over my enemies.[r]
Psalm 51[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.[b]
51 Have mercy on me, O God, because of[c] your loyal love.
Because of[d] your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.[e]
2 Wash away my wrongdoing.[f]
Cleanse me of my sin.[g]
3 For I am aware of[h] my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.[i]
4 Against you—you above all[j]—I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So[k] you are just when you confront me;[l]
you are right when you condemn me.[m]
5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.[n]
6 Look,[o] you desire[p] integrity in the inner man;[q]
you want me to possess wisdom.[r]
7 Cleanse me[s] with hyssop[t] and I will be pure;[u]
wash me[v] and I will be whiter than snow.[w]
8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.[x]
May the bones[y] you crushed rejoice.[z]
9 Hide your face[aa] from my sins.
Wipe away[ab] all my guilt.
10 Create for me a pure heart, O God.[ac]
Renew a resolute spirit within me.[ad]
11 Do not reject me.[ae]
Do not take your holy Spirit[af] away from me.[ag]
12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance.
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey.[ah]
13 Then I will teach[ai] rebels your merciful ways,[aj]
and sinners will turn[ak] to you.
14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder,[al] O God, the God who delivers me.
Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your righteousness.[am]
15 O Lord, give me the words.[an]
Then my mouth will praise you.[ao]
16 Certainly[ap] you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;[aq]
you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.[ar]
17 The sacrifice God desires is a humble spirit[as]—
O God, a humble and repentant heart[at] you will not reject.[au]
18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her.[av]
Fortify[aw] the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will accept[ax] the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;
then bulls will be sacrificed[ay] on your altar.[az]
18 “You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days[a] you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you; do this[b] at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “Every firstborn of the womb[c] belongs to me, even every firstborn[d] of your cattle that is a male,[e] whether ox or sheep. 20 Now the firstling[f] of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck.[g] You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.
“No one will appear before me empty-handed.[h]
21 “On six days[i] you may labor, but on the seventh day you must rest;[j] even at the time of plowing and of harvest[k] you are to rest.[l]
22 “You must observe[m] the Feast of Weeks—the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat—and the Feast of Ingathering at the end[n] of the year. 23 At three times[o] in the year all your men[p] must appear before the Sovereign Lord,[q] the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out[r] the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet[s] your land when you go up[t] to appear before the Lord your God three times[u] in the year.
25 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with yeast; the sacrifice from the Feast of Passover must not remain until the following morning.[v]
26 “The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”[w]
27 The Lord said to Moses, “Write down[x] these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights;[y] he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.[z]
The Radiant Face of Moses
29 [aa] Now when Moses came down[ab] from Mount Sinai with[ac] the two tablets of the testimony in his hand[ad]—when he came down[ae] from the mountain, Moses[af] did not know that the skin of his face shone[ag] while he talked with him. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone,[ah] and they were afraid to approach him. 31 But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 After this all the Israelites approached, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished[ai] speaking[aj] with them, he would[ak] put a veil on his face. 34 But when Moses went in[al] before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out.[am] Then he would come out and tell the Israelites what he had been commanded.[an] 35 When the Israelites would see[ao] the face of Moses, that[ap] the skin of Moses’ face shone, Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord.[aq]
3 So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone. 2 We[a] sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God[b] in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith, 3 so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know.[c] 5 So[d] when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.
6 But now Timothy has come[e] to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection[f] and long to see us just as we also long to see you![g] 7 So[h] in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters,[i] through your faith. 8 For now we are alive again,[j] if you stand firm in the Lord. 9 For how can we thank God enough for you,[k] for all the joy we feel[l] because of you before our God? 10 We pray earnestly night and day to see you in person[m] and make up what may be lacking in your faith.
11 Now may God our Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you, 13 so that your hearts are strengthened in holiness to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.[n]
Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell.[b] 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell.
Divorce
31 “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.’[c] 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality,[d] makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Oaths
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation,[e] ‘Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’[f] 34 But I say to you, do not take oaths at all—not by heaven, because it is the throne of God, 35 not by earth, because it is his footstool, and not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King.[g] 36 Do not take an oath by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. 37 Let your word be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no.’ More than this is from the evil one.[h]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.